HOUSE HAPPENINGS

by Representative Jim Whorton

(573) 751-1649 (660) 359-3988

Missouri agriculture was privileged to occupy center stage in and around the Capitol this past week. Zach Kinne, President of Missouri’s Future Farmers of America (FFA), addressed the House of Representatives while the FFA state officers were meeting in Jefferson City. I was personally, doubly proud of Zach in that he gave an extremely good presentation on behalf of agriculture to the body, and especially because he hails from Northwest Missouri. Zach, who is a 2005 graduate of North Harrison in Eagleville, is a freshman at MU in Columbia where he actively participates in the FFA program, as well as many other areas of study and extracurricular activities. We have been fortunate to have several state officers from our area schools in recent years, and I think it speaks well for our youth, their parents, their communities, and the quality of their education. It is interesting to note, Representative Jim Viebrock, Republic, and I were congratulating Zach on his accomplishments and we began to identify members of the House who are former FFA members. We were able to determine there are at least eleven of us who are now serving.

Several local members of Missouri Farm Bureau attended state meetings in Jefferson City Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday evening, Farm Bureau invited legislators to join in, where I met with Keith Sutton, Daviess County; Paul Thomas, Harrison County, and shared a supper table with Grundy County’s Maradyn and Max Oyler, along with Missouri’s Director of Agriculture, Fred Ferrell, Charleston. Table conversation with the Director outlined the significance of Missouri agriculture where he explained that our state is a national leader for a variety of crops and major types of livestock. It was discussed how many of our governmental programs are intertwined with and extremely necessary to support Missouri farmers in keeping Missouri’s top ranking in these areas. The highlight of our dinner was a presentation by Missouri Governor, Matt Blunt. The Governor also expressed the importance of Missouri agriculture and included in his remarks, a special appeal for group support of the proposed ethanol requirement and eminent domain reform.

This past week, several House Joint Resolutions (HJRs) and House Concurrent Resolutions (HCRs) were adopted in the House of Representatives. There is a uniqueness about HCRs since they do not have an immediate cause and effect like a legislative bill would do. Legislative bills, when finally passed and signed by the Governor, become “law” and are entered into our “statutes”. All HJRs result in an issue being referred to Missouri voters for approval whereupon; some of them would become a “constitutional change”. Others may be in form of a recommendation or an appeal to another governmental entity where our body does not have direct authority.

Other legislative action included passage of HCS SCS SB 578, known as the bill to restrict demonstrations at funeral services. Also, the House passed HB 1014, the supplemental budget bill which makes necessary adjustments of appropriations for the FY 06 budget. Many of these requirements were in response to changes in fuel costs, etc. Now that we are finally involved in the legislative process, some of you may choose to have more frequent contact with our office; therefore, I am listing our email for your convenience — j.